HOLYOKE -- Top leaders with the Massachusetts Cultural Council, touring the state with a new logo and four-point strategic plan, stopped at the Holyoke Cultural Arts Center on Thursday to honor local lawmakers and celebrate the role of arts and culture in transforming communities.

The state agency's "bold and vibrant" new message emphasizes "the power of culture" to fuel economic development, enliven communities, transform lives, and support equity and inclusion, said Mass Cultural Council president Anita Walker.

A bevy of Beacon Hill lawmakers delivered remarks; Holyoke public schools receiver Stephen Zrike spoke about the importance arts in education; and artists and arts advocates from across the region mixed and mingled.

Gov. Charlie Baker in July of 2016 slashed the cultural council's budget by $7.7 million. Democratic and Republican lawmakers rallied to override the cuts, leaving the budget flat-funded at around $14 million. The council funds arts and culture initiatives in every Massachusetts municipality.

Vega said Holyoke's burgeoning arts community is bringing people together, bridging divides, building a new economy, and creating jobs and opportunity. "Art is the equalizer," he said.

Lesser, Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, said economic development is "inextricably linked" to arts and culture.

"The power of culture is at the front edge of our economic renaissance here in western Mass," said Lesser, adding that arts grants have supported "incubator spaces, tech spaces, and maker spaces" and helped transform downtown centers across the region.

Hinds, Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Culture, "led our fight for funding" in fiscal 2017 and "brought both sides of the aisle together," Walker said.

Hinds said state arts funding has been essential to community development efforts in the Berkshires, particularly in North Adams, the former industrial city that hosts Mass MOCA, the popular Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Several other initiatives are building upon the museum's success, he said, including programs at the Massachusetts College of Art.

Hinds told The Republican that last year's bipartisan effort to override Baker's veto required "many one-on-one conversations" in the state Legislature, but that ultimately, it was an easy sell.

"Every lawmaker can see how arts funding has tangibly helped communities in their own district," he said. "Moving forward, we need more arts and culture funding, not less."

Humason, a Republican, said he "wholeheartedly supports" arts and culture funding, and feels so strongly "I was willing to override my own governor on this."

Zrike said arts and culture are essential to the turnaround plan for Holyoke's public schools, which were taken over by the state in 2015 due to low academic performance. A new curriculum at Holyoke High School forms a special academy for performing and media arts -- a program that will prepare students for real jobs in the creative economy, he said.

"Our motto is a pathway forward for every student," Zrike said, adding that teens need to be excited about their education. "It's not just about test scores," he said.

As dignitaries spoke, members of the Holyoke Creative Arts Center -- now celebrating its 100th anniversary -- worked on projects in a collaborative maker space at the back of the Wauregan Building, where a professional-level upholstery shop has been built. The center offers low-cost classes in printing, photography, graphic design, chair caning, rug-hooking, and more, said center president Jeffrey Bianchine.

The arts center was formed in 1917 to teach women practical skills during World War I, and has transformed into a busy community enterprise, Bianchine said.